There was once a man named Frederick Croissant who really despised his last name. Because of this, he loathed croissants as well. One day he was working in his office and in came one of his employees, Anna, with a gift for Frederick. It was a box of croissants. Frederick snapped and grabbed the box, throwing them to the wall. “How dare you get me a box of croissants you fool!” What he didn’t know was that inside the box was a special croissant, a golden croissant, that gave the person who ate them the ability to change their futures. If they refused to eat them, they would be cursed to become a croissant for the day. Anna laughed at Frederick, “ Because you didn't eat them you are going to become a croissant!” Frederick laughed. “That will definitely not happen.” As he finished his sentence he felt a tingle across his body. ‘What’s happening?’ he thought. He began to realize Anna looked taller than him, his body was shrinking! He tried to move his arms and legs, only to realize that he was a croissant. He tried to speak, but he had no mouth. Anna walked up to Frederick with an evil smirk, “I’m going to feed you to your dog, Bun.” Frederick felt a shiver go down his spine. Anna was insane. He tried his hardest to move away from Anna, only to slide a few inches. Anna picked him up in her hands and walked out of his office. “Hey Anna, did Frederick like the croissants?” asked his secretary. “Oh, he loved them so much he gave me this croissant to feed to Bun, his dog that loves croissants!” Anna pointed to Frederick in her hand, but the secretary didn’t know that. Anna walks out of the building onto the streets with Frederick in hand. Frederick was terrified. His mind was racing with thoughts of his possible gruesome death, and he couldn't stop thinking about ways to get out of this situation. He wanted to live, and never expected he would die being eaten by his dog. He tried his hardest to move once again, and felt himself sliding across Anna’s hand. Maybe he can push himself off onto the ground and hide in a safe space until he returns into being a human. He moves more and falls onto the ground. Now was his chance! He runs across the street, Anna screaming at him to come back while passersby stare at her like she was crazy. Frederick moved as fast as he could back to his office and hid himself in a closet. He was finally safe. But he wasn't. He began to hear squeaking noises, and turned towards the sound only to see a mouse staring at him hungrily.

A girl picked up a pair of scissors and settled them into her hands. For the first time in her thirteen years of life, she did not experience discomfort or any pain at all. What was this sorcery? She asked her friend what was wrong with these scissors, for it was normal for her to feel the pressure and aching building up in her fingers until it was almost unbearable, along with redness forming along her joints. Right-handed scissors were all this girl ever knew, and there were many times where she thought to herself, “Is there something wrong with me?” Her friend told her they were left-handed scissors, built the exact opposite of right-handed scissors. Shock struck, and the girl felt a rush of emotions flooding her. Why had no one told her until now? This was one of the earliest instances where I learned that I needed to advocate for myself, to speak up for what I needed. “You should keep your hair straight, it looks prettier that way.” “Keep your hair curly, it looks better that way.” “Cut your hair, it’ll suit your face better.” “Keep your hair long, you’ll regret it later.” I’ve always felt lost as if I had no identity because of people’s constant unwanted opinions over how I looked, or how I styled my hair. I always wanted to conform to what others wanted because I wanted to fit in, and it even got to the point where I didn’t know what I wanted myself to look like or who I even wanted to be. I needed to stop changing myself for others to finally validate me. I realized that I needed to listen to what I wanted for myself, instead of what others wanted for me. I grew to stop listening to people’s opinions and even ignore them completely as if they never were said at all. Countless times since this personal invasion I have been reminded that I need to be in the driver's seat of my own life. Being in the passenger's seat had negative impacts on me, ranging from preventing me from correctly using scissors to enduring microaggressions about how I look. I couldn't be complacent and happy, I had to find my own voice. I’ve realized that others do not have your best interests at heart: only you do. I am the only one that can reach my goals. I am the only one that can change my future. As I continue my path towards my future, I will use this lesson as a reminder to always be myself and to believe in my abilities. As I learn new topics and meet new people, I will make my own opinions of myself, for myself.

A girl picked up a pair of scissors and settled them into her hands. For the first time in her thirteen years of life, she did not experience discomfort or any pain at all. What was this sorcery? She asked her friend what was wrong with these scissors, for it was normal for her to feel the pressure and aching building up in her fingers until it was almost unbearable, along with redness forming along her joints. Right-handed scissors were all this girl ever knew, and there were many times where she thought to herself, “Is there something wrong with me?” Her friend told her they were left-handed scissors, built the exact opposite of right-handed scissors. Shock struck, and the girl felt a rush of emotions flooding her. Why had no one told her until now? This was one of the earliest instances where I learned that I needed to advocate for myself, to speak up for what I needed. Years later, I went to a buffet restaurant and as I was serving myself food, two young women approached me and started talking about how pretty my hair was, even deciding to stroke my hair when I didn’t give them permission. I felt violated because I didn’t allow them to touch my hair, and the fact that they were giving their own opinions about how I should keep my hair made me feel horrible about myself. “You should keep your hair straight, it looks prettier that way.” “Keep your hair curly, it looks better that way.” “Cut your hair, it’ll suit your face better.” “Keep your hair long, you’ll regret it later.” I’ve always felt lost as if I had no identity because of people’s constant unwanted opinions over how I looked, or how I styled my hair. I always wanted to conform to what others wanted because I wanted to fit in, and it even got to the point where I didn’t know what I wanted myself to look like or who I even wanted to be. I needed to stop changing myself for others to finally validate me. I realized that I needed to listen to what I wanted for myself, instead of what others wanted for me. I grew to stop listening to people’s opinions and even ignore them completely as if they never were said at all. Countless times since this personal invasion I have been reminded that I need to be in the driver's seat of my own life. Being in the passenger's seat had negative impacts on me, ranging from preventing me from correctly using scissors to enduring microaggressions about how I look. I couldn't be complacent and happy, I had to find my own voice. I’ve realized that others do not have your best interests at heart: only you do. I am the only one that can reach my goals. I am the only one that can change my future. As I continue my path towards my future, I will use this lesson as a reminder to always be myself and to believe in my abilities. As I learn new topics and meet new people, I will make my own opinions of myself, for myself.

A leader is someone who will challenge someone to become better. A leader known when to push someone, knows when they are at their limits, and when they need motivation to get them back on their feet. A leader brings people together and creates a tight knit bond among them to last many years into the future. As a captain of the tennis team, I faced many adversities as a leader. I had to step up for my teammates when they felt they had no voice. One of my teammates was in a match when all of a sudden, she was being accused of calling all her lines wrong. The opponent had been saying she would call all of the lines out, when the opponent felt they were all in. My teammates came up to me, crying from the pressure she was under. I sat her down at the bleachers and asked her, " Do you feel you have been calling your lines wrong?" She told me, "No" while sniffling and wiping her tears. I decided I would stay with her all throughout her game to give her support and intervene when there seemed to be increased tensions with her and her opponent. I would make sure she had enough water and gave her my tennis visor for her to be able to see through the sun glaring at her. My teammate began to finally relax and play better. She began to win more and more points and even won a set. The opponent had also won a set, which meant they were going to go into a tiebreak to 12 points. My teammate came to me during her break and hugged me, saying that if it weren't for me calming her down and being there for her she wouldn't have been able to win that set. I told her it was all her, she was just her doubting her abilities and needed a little push for success. During this time I have learned to support others even when things are looking bleak, and to never give up on the people you care about. I found how important it is to have a figure you can look up upon and how others can care about you more than you may think. I will use what I have learned for the future by always helping others when they are down and always giving them support when they need it, because you may be the only one that is keeping them from giving up.

Black holes have always been a topic I have felt strongly about, ever since I was a child I would stare at pictures of these pools of darkness and imagine what it would be like to be in one. I always theorized it was some sort of limbo, where you cant feel or see anything, similar to sensory deprivation, but after the discovery of light at the other end of a black hole, my theories have been completely scrambled. This would mean that black holes are much more complex than we ever knew, and brings to question, what would it actually look like on the other side? Is it similar to what is around us? Or is it something new entirely, with new laws, and new elements? This interests me largely because of how much is still unknown, and if we do discover something new about black holes, will it completely change our perception of our universe? Of ourselves?